1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for production of L-phenylalanine by Escherichia coli (hereinafter E. coli) which is resistant to high osmotic pressure and produces L-phenylalanine in a high yield.
2. Description of Related Art
L-phenylalanine is an essential amino acid and can be used for the synthetic production of ASPARTAME.RTM., a sweetening agent. There are many known methods for production of L-phenylalanine by use of microbes. For example, Japanese Patent No. 37-6345 and Japanese Kokai No. 60-160,890 disclose a method for production of L-phenylalanine by use of Brevibacterium and Corynebacterium species which require tyrosine. Japanese Kokai 55-165,797 discloses a similar method by use of an E. coli which requires tyrosine and which is resistant to tryptophan analogues and phenylalanine analogues. However, such related art processes are not particularly suited for L-phenylalanine production on an industrial scale; these processes produce low yields of L-phenylalanine.